Pregnant junior high school teacher harassed by students’ 'Miscarriage Club'

Eleven male students of a municipal junior high school in Handa City, Aichi, formed a “miscarriage club,” to harass their 7th grade homeroom teacher by tampering with her school lunch, Shukan Post reports. The incident has been reported overseas as well.

According to the vice principal of the school, the harassment began after the teacher, in her 30s, changed the students’ seating at the end of the second semester. Although intended to assist students with developmental disabilities, some students considered the seating change a sign of favoritism. Eleven classmates decided to “retaliate” by creating a club they named “Make Teacher ‘A’ Have a Miscarriage.”

These students began misbehaving in class from the third semester, which developed into other acts of harassment such as pasting glue mixed with powdered chalk (to make it look like semen) on the teacher’s car and loosening the screws on her chair, which could have injured the pregnant teacher. Then on Feb 4, the “Club” members put powdered alum in the teacher’s lunch.

“There was a science class experiment using salt and alum, and some students took a small portion of each and mixed them in the teacher’s meat sauce while preparing to pass around the [school-provided] lunch trays to the class. The teacher ate the lunch without any knowledge of the tampering,” said the vice principal.

The rumor about this incident spread among the student body, and finally came to the attention of the school administrators on Feb 25. While alum is used as a food additive and harmless to the body, the act of the tampering itself must have been a considerable shock to the pregnant teacher who would be concerned about anything that may harm the fetus.

Five students were directly involved in this lunch incident. None of the 11 “Club” members, however, had a reputation for bad behavior or had academic problems. Why, then, would such youngsters create a club to make their teacher suffer a miscarriage? The school vice principal commented, “The naming of the club is inexcusable, but the students had no murderous intentions. We think the students were just fooling around.”

The school insists the entire incident was a prank and has not taken stringent action to reprimand the 11 students. Instead, the school held a parent-teacher conference with each student for three days to instruct the teenagers on respect for life and to learn to judge between right and wrong. According to the vice principal, the school has made the students apologize to the teacher, and he believes that they now regret what they did.

Others who know the students seem to think otherwise. A classmate of the 11 members said that they were complaining about the media reports and were angry over punishment by their parents. One 8th-grader acquainted with these students said, “Their blog was flooded with postings after the newspaper article came out and there was a comment that said ‘Hundreds of people are browsing – this is cool,’ so I don’t think they’re really sorry.”

A junior high school principal in the Tokai area commented on the difficulty in handling children. “They’re not used to being scolded at home, so they can’t comprehend why they would be reprimanded by teachers. Furthermore, they resort to running away from home and wrist-cutting… they know they can stop teachers from taking any strong action.”

The pregnant teacher, though, has defended those students and hopes that they will understand the importance of life, because “both her child and the students have a future” to live.

Alot of Junior High Students use physical and mental violence on the teachers. About the school lunch. I guard my school lunch. Many students touch the teachers food all the time. Student bullies go aftwr the teachers.

Perhaps it is time for this kid's to have a little heart-to-heart with the teacher's husband. Now that would be interesting.

On a more serious note, I cannot understand why there is no reference to the "police" in this story. Why aren't the little darlings taken down the local cop shop and scared straight. Moreover, why isn't the teacher talking to a lawyer. Although I don't know the specific statutes, I would assume that even in Japan there are laws to make employers (the school/board of education) ensure a safe working environment for the employees (the teacher).

A miscarriage of justice. If they were just fooling around, then lets put powdered alum (with a few other mystery ingredients just for fun) in your lunch vice principal san! Wow, we can even make a club!

Reading this article again, I cannot understand all the handwringing on the part of the school. Why not just cane the kids like they used to in the old days? Bxgger civil liberties, these kids need to be taught that their actions have consequences. What ever happened to teachers who could impale students with their stare?

[A junior high school principal in the Tokai area commented on the difficulty in handling children. “They’re not used to being scolded at home, so they can’t comprehend why they would be reprimanded by teachers.]
Glad someone in this country recognizes a fact. Now why don't parents start being parents and teach their younguns to respect people more? Just wishful thinking on my part I guess.

The Japanese parents are merely reproducing the parenting styles that they themselves received when they were children; what more can you expect from a society that shuns the concepts of individualism and personal responsibility?

Bushlover, you raise an interesting point. The abdication of responsibility by parents in this country is scandalous, all you have to do is attend a school meeting in Japan to realize how bad things can get.

When my elder son was still in elementary school, the class meetings between the veteran teacher (50+) and parents was closer to a crash course in parenting. In addition to the teacher imparting her wisdom "Make sure your kids know how to use the toilet," etc, I could not believe that there were parents with mini-cassette recorders recording the teacher's words for prosperity. I actually had to leave the room because I was laughing so hard. Moreover, from a cultural perspective, many parents seem put out if the teachers are not so indulgent.

timor, Lets hope that parent went home and gave some lessons in using the pottie. I would have laughed a lot at that too. And I could also imagine the expression of wonderment on the parents face as if it were all new information... Truly pathetic.

I agree with a lot of other comments here regarding the parenting styles in Japan... too many parents in Japan treat their kids like little innocent angels and don't seem to discipline enough. However, I don't think that's how it used to be in Japan when times were tough (like post-war). Sure, the school sounds like it needs to be more stringent in this case too, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the parents doesn't it? Call me "old school", but I also happen to think minors should be restricted from the internet (namely blogs and forums) as it is taking the "humanity" out of kids these days.

This spells next Columbine waiting to happen.
Maybe not to that extremety, but think about it, these students felt secure to make a club that takes another's life... scary!
After they receive their punishments, who knows what can happen.

'the students were just fooling around'. nothing appears to be taken serioulsy. I guess if a student in Japan took a gun and killed all his classmates the head teacher would also say, oh, give him another chance he was just fooling around with a gun.

I think they should arrest the brats and haul em up for attempted murder. They would learn their lesson then. This kind of behavior isn't a joke, and shouldn't be tolerated for a second. Simply because there was no permanent harm, doesn't mean there shouldn't be a punishment. With this kind of behavior, you must send a message. Right now the message being sent is, if you do this, its no big deal. So everyone should go ahead and try to poison their teacher, or try to force her to miscarry.

So if you scold them they will go home and cut their wrists and kill them selves which is worse than them taking anothers life, hmmm interesting morals. I have noticed a high percentage of fathers who are concerned with nothing more than work and are a ghost at home, really young mothers who live for their kids because they have a ghost husband and the kids are considered the most important person in the family and thus are never corrected. I bet there are a few other kids English teachers out there who have been used more as a father role than teacher. Hahaha that could be taken a couple of ways ehhh!!!

If it were my kid, I would need to make special arrangements for the school to allow him to stand in class for about a month. Sitting would be quite impossible when I was through with him/her for about that long.

biglittleman: And people wonder "why?" Japan has been described as a nation of children.

Yeah. I am still wondering. How did 11 rotten junior high boys committing a thoroughly reprehesible but unique act get to represent the whole nation? Why choose them over the hundreds of wonderful students of all ages I have had over the years?

But then, as many times as I have heard that "nation of children" remark made over events that hardly represent the nation, I have to wonder about the people who make the remark, and the maturity of their nation.

My wife's brother, at the age of 8, accidentally knocked over an old woman while riding his bicycle. His father had to shell out over 700,000 yen in medical bills. These kids acted with intent to kill. I'd say 2,000,000 yen apiece would not be unreasonable along with sticking them in a home for juvenile delinquents.

memyselfI: A lot of Junior High Students use physical and mental violence on the teachers. About the school lunch. I guard my school lunch. Many students touch the teachers food all the time. Student bullies go after the teachers.

Funny, in my highschool classes, the worst thing the kids do is sleep and talk out of turn. I can't imagine anyone trying to pull any stunts on me. You see, it's not just that bullys go after teachers, bullys and other mischevous types go after the weak teachers, just like they go after weak students.

Mine is the only sensible one there is: the time that a pre-maturely born fetus can reasonably be expected to survive outside the womb, 26 weeks at the inside, about six months. There have been some who survived after 21 weeks but they are rare cases. I would still use the term baby rather than child though.

But I still have no problem with attempted murder charges if anyone but the pregnant woman or someone with her consent targets the fetus. These boys should be facing those charges.

If adults in this forum argue over whether a fetus is a life or not, how can we expect immature, reckless teen boys to consider the seriousness of their actions? Where do we think they are getting the idea that this is harmless from? The messages in society confuse young people. Medically some will say what was in the teachers stomach was just a blob of cells, so to cause them to discharge would seem harmless enough to these boys who have no emotional attachment to those cells. For others they would say it is a potential life that could be guiltlessly removed (aborted), so again if that isnt murder then it seems harmless enough to play some harmless pranks on the teacher that could make this thing be discharged. Then others would say this is a life but legally they are wrong and to some those who want to call it a life are offensive and intruding on a womans rights. So I dont think these boys are all to blame. Society gives mixed messages. There is no clear right and wrong message being given by society in regards to a fetus. Scientists mash up a fetus to do medical research. Abortion clinics have thrown fetal waste in garbage cans which is not what we do with a life not even the life of a despised criminal so why should we expect these kids to automatically regard what is in this woman`s stomach as a life that must be protected? We have to give kids a clearer message on life in my opinion.

I`m sorry but as a pregnant woman right now, anyone who deliberately tried to make me lose this baby - a life as far as I, my husband, my family and anyone who knows me are concerned - is guilty of attempted murder. How on earth can anyone call this a "harmless prank"??!

And in answer to why she isn`t consulting lawyers - because her career would probably be over (and it was probably the %$&# vice-principal who warned her so)

This was really shocking at first sight but I think its become over blown in the press...even the teacher was sticking up for the students in the end. so that indicates she knows them better than we do and were not as viscious as the story sounded. probably one stupid ring leader....Sometimes kids jump on a bandwagon without looking deeply into things,just seems fun at the time. I dear say they have had sufficient talking to.

Like the Principal said, Japanese kids are not use to being scolded at home so they comprehend being scolded by teachers.

First of all i work in the Junior Highschools here in Japan and the principal iss telling the truth. If you can't scold the students then scold the parents. Money hurts more, so punish the parents for not taking a responsible role in raising their kids!

Second, the school administration needs to grow a pair! They are so afraid of losing their jobs by the MONSTER PARENTS involved in the PTA! If the kids run away or cut their wrist then they are going to do it anyhow! Now or later, you can't stop a suicidal person only postpone it!

Third, that teacher is under an abnormal amount of pressure and she will forever be thinking of what is going to happen to her next. Salt or alum it doesn't matter. Those kids have no idea what the mixture could do to a fetus! In my eyes it is attemped murder because I know of a few substances in the schools or at home if mixed together would kill a fetus. In their eyes they attempted to do bodily harm to both the mother/teacher and child! GET THEM OUT OF THAT SCHOOL AND SEND A MESSAGE TO ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS IN JAPAN!
Every kids is thinking that if tthey did nothing for this incident then they can get away with it to! MY GOD JAPAN! If they did that to a dog then they would be in a reform school. CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jewel, I see what you are trying to say, but by saying that some people are offensive and intruding on a woman's rights when they claim that a fetus is a life, then using that argument to defend the boys? Slippery one there.

I believe too, that a woman's rights are to be supported and that would include both women who regard it as a mere blob of cells and women who feel it is a life inside of them...both sides of the fence have rights. None of us here know how the teacher in question feels on this. Perhaps if the boys were successful in causing a miscarriage, she would just laugh, ruffle their hair and say "Wow! You really got me there, you zany kids! Nice one!" or perhaps consequences could have been much worse.

No doubt though, that the boys didn't at the time grasp the seriousness of forming a club to hurt someone. But by that age, kids know full well the difference between right and wrong. You don't try to hide bad behaviour if you don't know it is wrong (tampering with her food, for starters). But they have also learned that they will get excused by the very people who are supposed to be giving them guidance and wisdom, with statements like,

"...We think the students were just fooling around."

But jewel, yes, I totally agree with you...society does send mixed messages, or at least differing messages with no real information about why there are different messages. We do have to give kids a clearer message.

Of course, kids will be kids but they need to learn the difference between a prank and maliciousness. That is up to the parents and teachers. Sadly, it doesn't sound like they are getting any real message about it at all. Just some yelling, punishment and strong lectures but no real information to help them understand the gravity of what could have happened.

man o man - not only are the kids sick but the teachers and principal of this school are beyond comprehension. these kids by-passed torturing small animals and straight on to worse things to come. we have not heard the last of this "club."

In the US they would file assault charges and expel them. Many schools here have zero tolerance policy. I think the least that could have been done was have them transferred to other classes or need be other schools to break up the "club".

kids are quite cruel at the junior high school age and not too clever. All the best to the woman. Its absolutley hilarious some of the comments, On average I would say Japanese students are a million times better behaved compared to my schools growing up.

The Japanese society should scrap the so-called Western values and get back to the own, tradditional values in matters of education. This is the only way to save the folk and nation. I am not against using modern technology or such, but a modern, highly technological society that cuts it´s own roots and despises life as well as the own heritage is doomed - I clearly see this in my homeland, Germany, too.

I have worked for at least two years teaching in America and Japan. There are positive and negative things I can say about both teaching environments, but since we are talking about the idea of being behaved I thought I would just mention that the bad American kids can and usually will fake culturally acceptable behavior to avoid trouble or hurting the feelings of others while Japanese kids will overtly express themselves without taking the feelings of other people into consideration.

American students who were caught having created such a club would, at best, be expelled from school pending psychological consoling and possible criminal charges (conspiracy to inflict bodily harm, attempted murder). But, the educational system in Japan is a victim of its own bureaucracy. If the principal attempted to really punish the students or make public examples of them, there would be someone above him ready to accept official complaints and then terminate him. He, unfortunately, is doing the best he can within the operating system the public education system will allow him.

A teacher here once told me, "if we tell the parents that they have to help us (teachers) handle their children's' problems or if we are in a position where we must say, 'this child is bad,' we look like terrible teachers because we are responsible for their moral education. We failed to educate their children."

In either the US or Japan, if I was expected (as a parent) to have the school teach my children right-from-wrong I would be scared to death. A large number of teachers I worked with over the years don't raise their own kids properly...

spudman: I don't advocate beating your kids but apparently somewhere along the line "spare the rod spoil the child" certainly seems to have come true. Nice idea on the community service though I don't know if kids like this will really learn anything.

Is it just me, or does this behaviour just seem so typical of many Japanese boys? They probably wouldnt even have a clue about females - and where babies come from - even after they become "sararyman". Future rapists, all of em.

Peachy, I see any argument on this subject as potentially slippery because there are no firm answers in society as to whether they were tampering with a life or not. So if the adults cant agree then we cant expect kids to have it all figured out. Society is partly responsible for not demonstrating a clear message. For ex., when my stomach was sticking way out in pregnancy and I was on the train, the majority of the time, no one got up from the reserved seats to give me my entitled seat. It begins with small messages like this as to whether society respects a pregnancy or not. When healthy adults take these seats and refuse to give them to the old, crippled, or pregnant, we are teaching our youth a lesson so to turn around and lecture, imprison, or beat them as some have suggested is hypocritical when we finish that and then make a pregnant woman stand while we take her seat. I would take this a step further and say this problem for the boys isnt just limited to miscarriage. The problem is about valuing life in general. For ex., the problem began with the boys feeling wronged by being seated next to the developmentally disabled which indicates they didnt understand the value of the disabled lives. It doesnt mean the boys are bad. It just means they havent learned to value "weaker" ppl. This is due to immaturity, inexperience, and ignorance. Actually the teacher is partly responsible for this. She cant expect normal teen boys to automatically understand and have compassion for the disabled. They dont have that maturity. So she should have talked to them ahead of time and educated them. Then she should have allowed opportunites for the boys to get to know and do things with the disabaled kids before just seating them together and magically expecting the boys to automatically start assisting those next to them. And what about the disabled? Maybe they didnt want to be assisted. To automatically assume they cant do things for themselves can devalue a person as well. These were unrealistic expectations to put on these immature boys. Even adults who are unfamiliar with various disabilities would not know how to assist without being told. Our kids have to be taught as well as shown through our own actions as to how to value others. We cant expect them to automatically know. The boys were wrong, but I dont think they realized how wrong they were or even if they know now why they were wrong. I hope they know why but I don`t know.

Take them to a Womens Hospital - make them look in the bucket, see what their scheme would have done had it been successful, then prosecute them for assault. Recommend 100 hours of community-service to be completed at a community based center assisting the differently-abled.

Goofing off in class should be dealt with by the school. Tampering with somebody's food should be dealt with by the police. Given that both were malicious acts with a stated goal of causing harm to the teacher I would suspend the goof offs and expel the tamperers.

i don't think there is a cultural point to be made about kids being cruel to their teachers. kids test boundaries, it's in their nature. however, i do think there are observations to be made in regards to how this matter is dealt with. i imagine it will be swept under the carpet as much as possible, in typical fashion

I came away impressed with the teacher's forgiving attitude. Punishment won't solve the problem. These are just kids: stupid, ill-brought-up kids, but still kids. However, perhaps Japan's institutions, families and traditional attitudes are out of sync, and need serious retuning. The teacher can't give moral education to a child who is not controllable by his parents.

Actually, causing a miscarriage is murder legally speaking. The more you know.. (cue music)
Is that the ruling in Japan? Not attacking, but if someone has a precedent reference (preferably japanese supreme court) I would greatly appreciate it.

In regards to the article, it just seems that the problems seem to be growing, despite those in powers (feeble) attempts to fix them. The lack of discipline is astounding. This is not just a jibe at Japan. Anyone who (shudder) watches current affairs can support me that lack of responsibility by parents is a cause of concern all over the world. Education is not just the responsibility of educational facilities, but the parents as well.

Also I'm amused how life imitates art - similar incidences have been depicted in GTO and the like

Clarity: I beg to disagree. I work at a JHS and kids do this kind of stuff (not usually as extreme) because they know they can get away with it. When I was a kid, the ONLY thing that stopped me from breaking rules or committing petty crime was the fear of punishment.

Oh, good grief. That's disgusting. Fooling around? This was FOOLING AROUND? When the club was CALLED a "Miscarriage" club?

I say the school should make their parents pay exorbitant tuition to allow the children to continue attending the school. When asked why, the school should use the reasoning that the tuition fees are to reimburse the school for taking on the job of parenting and disciplining children who have shown themselves to be of poor moral character. That'll get the kids some discipline at home. Forget the fact that they're clearly mealy-brained little punks with no respect for authority; hit the parents in the pocketbook and we'll see if their apologies suddenly become more genuine.

Reading comments here makes me remember why Im glad to be in Japan. I dont know if the ppl commenting here have children or not but the reactions are pretty extreme. The reactions are probably coming from ppl from countries, like myself, with high crime rates. Japan has a low crime rate compared to the rest of the world for a reason. I think it is because the ppl try to nuture the children (no ones perfect) and they tend to carefully consider situations before acting. To make a blanket statement that these kids had bad parents isnt fair. We dont have enough evidence to know that. Teens often foolishly do things that their parents would never approve of or have taught them not to do. We cant condemn parents so quickly. Also, I think throwing kids in juvenile hall often does more harm than good, and the harm can have life long effects on the person which in turn can have lifelong effects on society; then those effects can be recycled to the next generation or two. Adults are expected to know better, but kids still need to be guided, trained, and handled with much care. Prison isn`t the answer for most kids.

I have taught at 20 or so high schools, junior high schools, elementary schools in Japan as well as a top university. Here are some of my insights.

Kids are not disciplined here. They basically can do anything. Especially younger ones. I have been punched at least 100 times by kids for no reason. Many times they try and punch you in the balls!! pinch your ass etc. No one teaches them that this is unacceptable behavior.

The attitude of teachers are that they are kids so are forgiven everything. I was team teaching once and a boy stood up dropped his pants and then pushed his private parts into the face of the boy next to him. I was speechless. The Japanese teacher did nothing.

Teachers are scared of parents and disciplining the kids.

An enormous amount of mentally disabled kids are in classes with no support for the teacher. Young kids all laugh at them and ridicule them and are not punished for it or taught that its not nice or acceptable. Everyone ends up completely ignoring them. They always pass!! They are treated the same even when they are not.

Some teachers can be vicious and malicious and constantly scold kids thus become truly hated. If have seen it. They even hit kids and ridicule them etc.

In every school I have taught I had 2 or 3 students that were so traumatized from bullying from fellow classmates or abusive parents that they could not speak!! not a word or a peep. Completely shattered emotionally. It is very common. Unbelievable. I had one kid so traumatized he sat there holding his pencil case in front of his face to hide it, every lesson. Almost nothing is done to council of help these kids.

Schools and the local boards of education very often get anonymous letters from students threatening suicide because of bullying.

Overall when someone is broken or traumatized I observed that no-one reaches out. Everyone pretends that everything is fine. When I joined my first school there was a 40 year old American teacher. I could tell that this guy was a wreck! 2 weeks later he was dead. He was type 2 diabetic and needed shots everyday or he would die. He was also an alcoholic. His wife kicked him out, he got depressed, drank, missed his shot, and died. Later the Japanese teachers told me they simply pretended he had no problem and simply didn't include him in any of their social events to avoid his behavior. No one tried to help him at all. Nice guy. Very sad. Completely avoidable.

If you are weak in Japan this society will destroy you.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my insights with the readers to help them put this story into context. Its not all black and white.

interesting to have jewel's and space monkey's posts right next to each other. i'm afraid that space monkey's post explains the harsh reality that makes the society described in jewel's post possible. as a friend said recent, japanese society is a beautifully polished apple that is rotten on the inside. sure, it's a "safe" society, but at what price? i have lived in what you could call "dangerous" places in the US and UK but if you never actually become a victim then the statistics mean nothing.

school is where a society is created, so cruel and unnecessary acts such as detailed in the article are illuminating.

Jonnyboy,Spacemonkey does make good points, but we have to remember that all countries have abuse and bullying. Japan is unfortunately not alone in this area. So in that respect all countries have a rottenness on the inside as well as a little polish on the outside, but the point I want to make is even if there is some rottenness in the kids (I do think they were very wrong), overly punishing them will do more harm than good. I dont know why people want to throw kids in jail when kids are reformable outside of prison. Also, even though I agree with things Spacemonkey wrote, I think he was making a one sided observation. I have also seen the bad, but Ive seen the good too. Ive been fortunate to always have teachers to tackle problems right away if there is even a hint of bullying. Ive seen teachers go over and beyond the call of duty for kids, and Ive seen teachers here with full control of their classrooms and not at all afraid to discipline. In fact, the first day of school my sons principal made it very clear that he is nice when kids are good, but if they step out of line they better be afraid, and he has lived up to his word. So Spacemonkey paints an aspect to some Japanese schools but not the full picture. We also have to remember when looking at this picture there are cultural differences in what people define as disciplined, but that is another discussion.

I agree with you jewel 100%. I have also seen a lot of good. The point I was making is that a lot of schools don't have rules that guide kids on appropriate behavior. Many do, many don't. Also many teachers don't enforce them when a school does. Simple things like not walking up to adults and sticking your fingers up their bum or punching them in the balls is a start!! Not cool. The attitude generally is that the kids will grow out of it. Maybe they will, maybe they won't, maybe they will get worse like this story entails. My points were given to other readers to help them understand some of the negative factors that may have led to these kids being allowed to do what they did. Kids don't know what is right and wrong. Schools need to foster a community that teaches respect for other people; unfortunately many times in Japan I have not seen this to be the case. Tolerate maybe, but not respect.

I think we are in complete agreement Space Monkey. I also posted about society contributing to the confusion of what is right and wrong for young people. Society gives many mixed messages. So if teachers shrug at kids jabbing an adults bum but some adults in the neighborhood say "dame", how is a child to learn if it is really right or not? Maybe the message is it is okay to jab a teacher but not a neighbor. There are many mixed messages society gives about pregnancy as well so we have to share some blame here. Anyway I hope the whole school learns a lesson from this. I would also like to think these boys can grow into responsible citizens without having to be beaten and then thrown in jail. They at least deserve a second chance. If they continue the club then of course stronger measures should be taken, but I hope the principal`s judgement proves to work for the good.

i think the teacher should leave.
this would teach the kids a good lesson about being a responsible mother.
the discrepency concerning handling of disabled in the class, at juniour high level, is a vital point; most kids by this stage know right from wrong concerning social rules.
the kids are somewhat entitled to their viewpoint.
the name and actions of the club, is very sad.
the teacher should consider their view seriously.
as the father of the unborn child, would you not be worried?

This is really sick. When I was in highschool one of our gym teachers was pregnant with twins. But she had a miscarriage and lost both of them. We were all so shocked and saddened by her loss and were really careful not to upset her after she came back to work. The thought of students trying to cause a miscarriage is just unthinkable. These kids really need to be sent to juvenile hall and taught how to be human.